Learning Curve by Rachel Spangler

From the blurb: Ashton Clarke, a local Casanova, is perfectly content until she gives in to helping out at a gay and lesbian youth center, where she meets the intriguing Professor Carrie Fletcher, someone who isn’t looking for a relationship with anyone.

I chose to make Rachel Spangler’s first book to be my first introduction to her writing. I like finding an author after they already have several books out, so that I can see the growth of their writing in short succession. I was able to read this one pretty quickly and the writing was fairly smooth with lots of humor popping up in unexpected places, which was delightful. I particularly enjoyed how the author wrote Ash, especially in her interactions with Carrie, with whom she loses her confidence and becomes a tongue-tied klutz immediately. One of my favorite moments being when Ash is basically just silent and staring at Carrie before blurting out “YOU LOOK NICE.” At least, that’s how I heard it in my head, similar to Steve Carrell saying “I LOVE LAMP” in Anchorman.

There were some issues with the consistency of the conflict within the story. There was one significant point of contention that was preventing Carrie’s involvement with Ashton for the majority of the book, but that sort of just disappears toward by the end. That didn’t ruin the story for me, but it was definitely noticeable.

Aside from the issues I encountered, I enjoyed it and look forward to checking out the rest of Spangler’s work to see how her writing has progressed.